Speed limits are set putting into consideration the type of road and the time of the day. A speed limit of 70mph has been proposed in the United States especially in rural areas and those that have low populations.
The main aim of increasing the speed limit is to improve transportation services and increase the rate at which goods and services are delivered. It should be viewed as a measure to get traffic to move fast as a result of a uniform flow of traffic (1). This would make the roads safer since there would be no competition between the fast and slow moving vehicles.
When cautiously implemented, increased speed limits would result to low rates of accidents because drivers tend to be more attentive when driving at high speeds and as result, there would be low insurance claims. The small changes occurring in form of toxic emissions from automobiles do not affect the environment. The most common pollutant, nitrogen dioxide may exceed the target emissions only in city centers but not on highways.
Another major pollutant is airborne particulates that results from large diesel engines especially of buses and transit vehicles. The amount of this pollutant is not affected by any change in speed hence an increase in speed limit to 70mph will not cause any negative effects to the environment (1). Many other pollutants including carbon dioxide are emitted in large amounts at low speeds hence raisin the speed limit would be an added advantage to the environment since low levels of pollutants would be released at high speeds.
Increased speeds would have negligible effect on the occurrence of traffic noise. This noise is created by the friction between the road surface and the tires of the vehicle (1). A high contribution to noise levels result from the weight of the vehicles and the quality of the road surface. More so, most highways are remote and
- McDonnell, Roberts. Governor McDonnell Announces 70 mph Speed Limits on 680 Miles of Interstate. Office of Governor: Virginia, 2010.
far from residential areas and this makes traffic noise irrelevant since it does not affect anyone in that case.
A raise in speed limit would as well affect the economy with the most evident benefit being the value of time that is saved despite the prices of fuel. The value of the time saved might be more valuable than the extra costs of fuel calculated. An increase in speed limit would result to elevated fuel consumption and consequently an increase in fuel tax rates (1). The treasury would benefit by earning extra income from the increased tax rates.
Increasing the speed limit would promote safety of the motorists by allowing a consistent speed between them. Speed limits would be posted on all highways to guide drivers and this would reduce accident rates by motorists. The number of drivers who break the law would be reduced since most drivers prefer high speeds which would now be acceptable by the law. It is also better to set realistic speed limits that will be followed by motorists than to let them ignore the badly set ones which would result to numerous accidents (1).
In case of low speed limits, faster drivers tend to find other routes that have less law enforcement although they are more dangerous. An increase of a reasonable speed limit would make them get back to the roads which are constructed to suit the high speeds and are even safer to use.
- McDonnell, Roberts. Governor McDonnell Announces 70 mph Speed Limits on 680 Miles of Interstate. Office of Governor: Virginia, 2010.
Bibliography
McDonnell, Roberts. Governor McDonnell Announces 70 mph Speed Limits on 680 Miles of Interstate. Office of Governor: Virginia, 2010.